The Resonance of “Islam Versus the West” in Pakistan’s Foreign Policy – 1947 to 1957

Abstract

The ideational construct that postulates a confrontation between Islam and the West is potent and resilient. This paper studies the case of Pakistan’s foreign relations and seeks to understand how the Islam versus West construct resonated in the country’s first decade after independence. This decade long period was important in laying the foundations of future security alignments for Pakistan. The security concerns for Pakistan in the first decade of independence involved a primary threat from India and, to a lesser extent, threats from Afghanistan and the USSR. These threats were addressed in a context that included an internal debate within Pakistan on the place of Islam in politics and governance. This period also saw Pakistan faced with a lack of strong support from the Muslim countries of the Middle East. Pakistan at this critical juncture of its history chose to align with the West. Thus the resonance of the construct Islam versus the West was not very consequential in the foreign policy of Pakistan during the foundational first decade after independence.